Quarterbacks were the center of attention Saturday at Owen Field. Most of the 7,000 in attendance were glued to every move of Joey Halzle, Sam Bradford and Keith Nichol.
Which one will end up as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback is the question everyone is dying to know. There are no answers yet. But the Sooners have reason to believe they can handle a slow start at the quarterback position.
OU’s defense was dominant Saturday.
Outside of Jacob Gutierrez’s 52-yard touchdown run against second-team players, real estate was hard to come by and big offensive plays were nearly non-existent.
“I heard some hitting,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “You could hear pads snapping out there.”
It’s been a few seasons since that was the case. The last two seasons the Sooners finished with good defenses.
But it’s been three seasons since they started the year that way.
The obvious reason has been a lack of experience. In 2005, the secondary featured mostly freshmen and sophomores. Last season it was the defensive tackles that were playing with a learning curve.
But those groups aren’t going through anything new any longer. DeMarcus Granger, Gerald McCoy, Cory Bennett and Steven Coleman were very solid Saturday.
The offseason shuffling in the secondary looks like an improvement. Reggie Smith is at cornerback after two seasons as a safety. D.J. Wolfe and Lendy Holmes have moved from cornerback to safety.
But they, along with safety Nic Harris and cornerback Marcus Walker, have hit their prime. It showed Saturday.
“I think there’s so much more stability in the secondary,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “I see that being a big factor today.”
Receivers couldn’t get deep, receivers couldn’t take short passes and make them long gains because of solid tackling.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said there were some limitations in the first scrimmage. There was no blocking below the waist and he was trying to get the quarterbacks as many passing attempts as he could.
He admitted there was another reason for the struggles moving the ball.
“Credit it to the defense,” he said. “The secondary, in my view today, there were a lot of great tackles by corners and safeties for 1- and 2-yard gains and sometimes negatives gains.”
The defensive questions left from last spring are at linebacker and defensive end. The Sooners lost two starting linebackers and three at defensive end.
Another chink was exposed when weakside linebacker Ryan Reynolds had to undergo offseason knee surgery. But Reynolds looked solid Saturday, logging six tackles.
The defensive ends pulled down four of the five sacks with three going to Alan Davis and another credited to John Williams.
The Sooners only had 26 sacks last season and only 141⁄2 went to defensive linemen.
Getting more pressure on the quarterback with the front four is a big emphasis this season. Stoops likes what he’s seen thus far.
“I think it has a chance to be really good,” he said. “I’m not saying it is. It has a long way to go. But it has a chance to be better than we had last year.”
And Saturday’s stingy performance showed the Sooners have the potential for a dominant year defensively.
Of course, there’s still the matter of seeing what happens when going against teams in different uniforms. That won’t come until Sept. 1 when North Texas comes to Owen Field.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Sooner defense stepping up
- OU Sports
-
-
Sooners did not show up to play
Texas had something to play for. So there’s that. If the Longhorns are to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, this was just the kind of game they absolutely had to win....
-
With W.V. set free by Big East, Big 12 schedule’s out and it’s backloaded for Sooners
With West Virginia finally receiving its release from the Big East Conference on Tuesday, the Big 12 Conference was finally able to release its conference football schedule for the 2012 season....
-
Red River rut
The rut Oklahoma has been trying to escape for the last two weeks continued to grow deeper with a 69-58 loss to Texas Tuesday night at Lloyd Noble Center....
-
OU gearing up for Texas’ Brown
If Oklahoma guard Steven Pledger had his way, tonight’s meeting with Texas will come down to two players: himself and Longhorn guard J’Covan Brown....
-
Sooners will have a dramatically new look up and down the order, on the mound
The clubhouse at L. Dale Mitchell Park hasn’t changed over the last year. Just about everything else has since the 2011 baseball season ended. The locker stalls have 20 new nameplates. The coaches’ locker room has two new ones as well. ...
-
Despite hard fight, UConn wins big
By its own standards, the Connecticut team that took the floor Monday night at Lloyd Noble Center was not in the same class as its previous incarnations. But a down year for the seven-time national champions is still better than just ...
-
Believe it or not, OU women are progressing
Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma appeared plenty willing to embarrass Oklahoma for a third time in seven games....
-
OU reeling from stunning loss to Texas Tech
As Oklahoma’s players headed toward the exit at United Spirit Arena on Saturday night, most had dazed looks on their faces. The 65-47 loss to Texas Tech was something they didn’t see coming....
-
Husky challenge
No time might seem like a good time to face Connecticut. The Huskies are always terrific and this season will enter Lloyd Noble Center likely ranked No. 2 following Notre Dame’s Sunday loss to West Virginia....
-
Sooners put finishing touches on perfect opener
Oklahoma capped off a perfect opening weekend of softball on Sunday with an 11-1 victory over Kent State. The Sooners were led by another strong outing from pitcher Keilani Rickets and an offensive explosion by Allee Allen....
- More OU Sports Headlines
-
Sooners did not show up to play
